The Autism Conversation We're Not Supposed to Have

Kerri Rivera is having it anyway. Here's how to join in.

I met Kerri Rivera when I was researching and writing The War on Chlorine Dioxide—which is the kind of sentence that could easily get me kicked out of the Humor Writer’s Guild and which I nevertheless stand behind completely. Kerri’s story starts the way so many like hers do: an otherwise healthy child suddenly… changes. Regresses. Stops meeting milestones. Loses the ability to speak. Is no longer engaged. Refuses eye contact. Completely disengages from the outside world. A parent knows that something is wrong—despite rote assurances to the contrary—and so begins the exhausting marathon of appointments, diagnoses, therapies, internet rabbit holes, diets, supplements, specialists, conflicting advice, and late-night desperation.

As a baby, Kerri’s son Patrick was ‘smart, curious, and alert.’ But sometime between his first and second birthdays, there was a dramatic shift. Patrick developed chronic digestive issues, uncontrollable crying, and unmanageable sleeplessness. The speech he had been mastering vanished almost entirely. At four years old, Patrick was diagnosed with autism. Doctors could only offer antibiotics or more vaccines.

“He was probably born like this,” they told her. Kerri knew otherwise.

She dove headfirst into research, exploring nutrition, gut health, environmental stressors, detox protocols, pathogens, behavior patterns, and a long list of topics most mainstream conversations either avoid or aggressively mock. In other words, she did exactly what they tell you not to do—and probably what every reader of this Substack would have done in Kerri’s situation.

After many years of trial and error, she was able to lift what she calls Patrick’s ‘veil of autism.’ She became a Doctor of Homeopathy, wrote several books, and opened her own holistic clinic in Mexico to help families struggling with the same challenges. The success stories on her website will bring you to your knees.

What struck me about Kerri wasn’t confidence or certainty—it was persistence. She read. She studied. She kept looking. Kept learning. She got attacked, censored, threatened, and shut down. She kept going. “I think a lot of parents of autistic children feel like I do: This is why we’re here and why we do what we do. We have to advocate for our children,” Kerri insists.

I know this is a sensitive topic—in the same way I know that ‘sensitive’ is often just another word for ‘we'd prefer you not discuss this.’ I also know there are a lot of families struggling behind the scenes while being gaslit, pretending everything is fine, or both.

If you or someone you know has a child with an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis, you may be interested in a workshop Kerri is hosting. Her Reversing Autism Online Course: A Step-by-Step Roadmap for Parents Who Refuse to Give Up covers symptom recognition, gut health, pathogens, detoxification, nutrition, inflammation, and nervous-system and recovery-support strategies. (*Full disclosure: Kerri gave me an affiliate link for the workshop, which means I may earn a commission if you sign up through it. My opinions, however, remain stubbornly unpaid. I really hope I didn’t need to say that.)

This course is not for everyone—particularly the ones who think CDC stands for Completely Dependable Conclusions. Kerri is not claiming she can cure or even treat autism (although many of her clients are now considered ‘neurotypical’—see the aforementioned success stories), but she wholeheartedly believes that progress and improvement are always possible.

I don’t have an autistic child. But I've read enough, talked to enough parents, and followed enough of these stories to know that ‘he was probably born like this’ is not an answer anyone should have to accept lying down.

Click here to listen to Kerri tell part of her story, and here to check out the course (and the special Mother’s Day discount). It comes with a 30-day no-questions-asked money-back guarantee, so there’s honestly not a whole lot to lose.

Questions? Comments? Drop your thoughts below. And please share this post with anyone you think might benefit from Kerri’s hard-earned wisdom. :)